Nowadays, in many electronic and consumer devices, imaging techniques are used in order to provide information or multimedia entertainment. In order to ensure a high quality reproduction of transmitted image information, noise reduction methods are commonly used.
Conventional techniques for temporal noise reduction in sequences of images encounter the problem of generating motion artifacts, in particular for high noise images, e.g. captured with high sensitivity under low luminance conditions. In the resulting low contrast images, the algorithms cannot differentiate between a desired image content and a noise disturbance. As a result, motion artifacts may be caused e.g. in regions of a sequence of images showing moving objects. The higher the noise level, e.g. due to a high sensitivity of the camera, the more severe is the problem encountered by the conventional techniques.
Besides avoiding the motion artifacts, it can also be a challenge to keep the natural impression in a sequence of images, e.g. when showing moving objects.
It is an object of the invention to avoid such problems.
This object is solved by a method for motion detection according to claim 1, by a motion detection unit according to claim 13, by an image capturing device according to claim 18, by an image displaying device according to claim 19 and by a computer program product according to claim 20. Further embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.